


We Were Accepted

by Oakleafthewriter



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Backstory, Canon Compliant, Golden Trio but traumatic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow updates cause op just sucks at writing stuff and keeping focused., eventual angst, this entire thing is a campaign 2 episode 18 spoiler
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-07 01:33:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14660583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oakleafthewriter/pseuds/Oakleafthewriter
Summary: Before the fire, they were just three bright kids. What in the world happened? What killed them, what poisoned their hearts, and what burned them.Edit: Currently changing all spellings of "Eardwulf" to "Eodwulf".





	We Were Accepted

White robes with gold lining, students lined across the field with shoulders back, chests out, looking mature and proper. Caleb stood staring straight ahead, curly hair pulled neatly back into a ponytail, ending like a frayed knot of red. Other students stood beside him, alphabetical and perfect. Astrid and Eardwulf were elsewhere in the line.  
  
The quiet whispering of adults before them, professors and powerful magic-users discussed their futures. One older man broke off from the group, passing the lineup, looking each and every student down. He paused for a moment to look at the boy next to Caleb- poor lad had misfired an eldritch blast and had left a nasty mark on his neck that hadn’t healed yet. He then looked at Caleb.  
  
He didn’t even breathe as he was pulled from the lineup, as other scholars began choosing students. Caleb’s eyes darted around trying to catch where his friends were. Soon they were right there next to him. They smiled.  


* * *

  
Astrid burst their dorm open and flung herself onto a bed. Falling back her chocolate-brown hair hung over the side of the light-blue covers. Eardwulf entered behind her, pulling bags from under the bed. Caleb entered last, shutting the door behind him and sighing deeply.  
  
“I can’t believe it! _Ikithon_ !” Astrid said, holding her arms out like making snow-angels on the sheets.  
  
“Ja, hard to believe. Now off my bed.” Eardwulf was fairly blunt. Astrid rolled over as he threw his bag onto the bed and began packing. Drawers of casual clothing, uniform robes...  
  
“But it’s exciting! We’re gonna travel, it’s an adventure!”  
  
“I admit it sounds like fun. Maybe lighten up, Eardwulf?” Caleb too began pulling out his bags, instead of clothing he sorted through piles of textbooks they owned and placing the most useful nearby. Eardwulf paused for a moment while folding a shirt, looking down at the books.  
  
“I’m _extremely_ interested in this ‘ _adventure_ ’, but it is a three day trip to the place. I’m just thinking ahead and being- well, responsible,” Caleb and Astrid looked to him. “Also, pack a book on herbs and edible plants.” He tucked his light, dusty hair behind his ear.  
  
“Get that stick out your ass, you sound like your father.” Astrid teased, Eardwulf blushed- She was then pushed off the bed.  
  
“Do you think we’ll be attacked by thieves on the way there? Or maybe see an owlbear?” Finally, Astrid began packing too.  
  
“I think peaceful countryside would be just fine,” Caleb assured the girl. The two exchanged a smile.  


* * *

  
“You have an hour to do as you please before we set off. Return here and don’t be late.” Trent stood before them, passing a small bag of gold to Astrid. The girl immediately opened and looked into it.  
  
  
“T-thank you, sir!” She looked up and grinned. Caleb just stared at the bag in her hands. Eardwulf peered over the two as well.    
  
“How- how much is there?” Caleb gasped. He reached his hand over to take a look.  
  
“There’s 30 gold, 10 for each of you or however you want to divvy it up. You’re dismissed.” The man waved his hand and strode away from them over to a covered cart that was being loaded. The three headed off, sorting the coins as they went.  
  
The cobbled streets were still fairly quiet, but most shops were open in the early morning. It was a humid day, with a few puddles in between the rocky roadways.  
  
“So where to?” Eardwulf tucked his gold away into his leather satchel and began looking down the road.  
  
“A bookstore!” Caleb was busy counting, one after another, keeping in time with the brisk walk the three were in.  
  
“We’d use up the hour just there. We should go to the market.” Astrid then took her 10 gold, grabbed the boys’ hands and dashed off towards the market, the two dragged behind her. Caleb almost tripped a few times.  
  
The market was just waking up, people were loading fresh produce, knick-knacks and other interesting things. The smell of meats and other interesting foods being cooked drifted down the aisles of the maze-like market.  
  
Caleb was still being dragged but Eardwulf had managed to get out of the smallest of the trio’s grip. He managed to escape at look at the piles of fresh fruits- apples, the halfling woman was just starting to pile a few oranges, and fat, bright yellow lemons. There were also fresh-picked flowers. He quickly paid the lady for an apple and a few of the varying flower-types. He counted the gold he had left over before tracking down the other two, which is fairly easy with Caleb’s hair and Astrid’s big mouth.  
  
Astrid led Caleb to a small stand with cheap looking earrings and necklaces. A few were interesting fakes. Some were wires wrapped around pieces of sea glass or an interesting formation of scrap metal. Some were hemp rope tied together with colourful beads.  
  
“Whoa!” She gasped, looking at all the interesting little baubles. Her eyes were almost as shiny as the fake gemstones.  
  
“Most of these are just gar-”  
  
“They’re so cute! How much for this one?” Astrid immediately picked up one of the necklaces with small bits of sea glass, held inside a sort of egg of metal wire. The glass jingled.  
  
Eardwulf arrived alongside them, tucking the flowers as nicely into his bag as possible. He held onto the apple.  
  
“Wow, these are all garbage.” He smirked looking down at what was laid out before them.  
  
“I said that too!” Caleb said. Astrid had already paid and strung it over her neck. She was pleased.  
  
“You’re an idiot.” Eardwulf sighed. He began wandering off, Astrid quickly grabbing Caleb’s hand and pulling them along.  
  
They left the marketplace, turning down one of the streets. They began peeking in storefront windows. Bakeries, toy shops, anything you could imagine was here in Rexxentrum. Caleb was released from Astrid’s grasp, slipping away from the two now locked in a conversation about... Flowers or something. Who knows. Ducking into one of the shops nearby he never even looked at the sign.  
  
The small store had many handmade items. Baskets, homemade quills, picture frames, paintings of the Rexxentrum skyline at sunset. No one was around there but the ginger boy could hear shuffling from somewhere out of sight.  
  
He stared for a while at these beautifully crafted items- candles, soap and wood carvings, there were bunches of herbs hanging from the ceiling. He smiled a bit- it was pleasant. A small pile of books caught his eye. Being the bookworm he was, he quickly rushed to look over them.  
  
A small pile of leather-bound books, no title. He held it in his hands for just a second before opening it. Blank pages. With a burst of inspiration, he grabbed two others, a quill or two and an ink pot. Just as he carried them to a counter- a woman appeared behind it. A human woman with incredibly curly dark hair looked at him with a curious expression. Seeing a boy balancing three books, quills and an ink pot before setting them down, she smiled.  
  
“Interesting lot you’ve got there.”  
  
“Just these please.” Caleb was enthusiastic, quickly shuffling to get the gold he needed out.  
  
“For everything that’ll be about two gold.” The child pulled out two gold and placed it on the counter. He tucked away the quills, ink and his own book and rushed back out, calling back a quick thank you to the lady. She waved back, unnoticed.  
  
Caleb ran up the street- more people had begun to fill the pathways. However, their bright white uniforms were easy to pick out of the crowd of darker clothes and leather.  
  
The two stood at the corner of an intersection, Eardwulf looking up the road to where Caleb was then pointing and tapping on Astrid’s shoulder. She noticed too and they joined him halfway.  
  
“Where were you?” Eardwulf said instantly before Caleb could do anything.  
  
“I went into a shop and bought you guys something!” Caleb held up two journals. The two looked puzzled for a moment.  
  
“You bought us… books.” Astrid was confused.  
  
“Well, I thought since we were gonna be away I could buy us all journals. We could track our progress and see how far we come.” Caleb said as he held out two books to them.  
  
“You still bought books,” Eardwulf laughed quietly as he took one. “But, thanks.”  
  
“Well, If you still have money, we’re going to buy cloaks.” Astrid took the last one and continued walking, waving for them to catch up. Caleb was already thinking of what to write in his journal as the three began looking for their next stop.

 

* * *

  
The three hopped onto the cart, Trent taking the horse and began leading it out of Rexxuntrum, the massive city towering above them all. He soon took the reins, and the three watched as the city eventually disappeared behind them.  
  
Caleb, edging closer to the bag he put his textbooks in, and Eardwulf whittling away at the side of the wagon with a knife. The three looked at each other for just a moment.  
  
And gods, that was probably the moment the three smiled the widest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll probably continue this when I have free time. If we get more information on the other students (i.e clearer names or descriptions) I might edit this. Who knows honestly.
> 
> I hope I wrote this okay. I've got ideas of what to do next.
> 
> Let me know if there are any mistakes!
> 
> Edit- I WAS ONE LETTER OFF IN THE BOY'S NAME!

**Author's Note:**

> I'll probably continue this when I have free time. If we get more information on the other students (i.e clearer names or descriptions) I might edit this. Who knows honestly. 
> 
> I hope I wrote this okay. I've got ideas of what to do next.
> 
> Let me know if there are any mistakes!


End file.
